We all arrived at the field where Crest and Paul usually were. This time however, there was another figure, it was Sharon. She was sparring with Paul. As we got closer to them, Sharon landed the finishing blow. Crest called an end to the match, we greeted everyone, then began to stretch and warm up. While I was stretching, a question popped into my head, and I decided to ask it.

  " Hey, guys, are you all going to be ok? I mean I have Paladin's Recovery, so I'll be ok with a bit of rest, what about you guys?"

  They all looked at me with a strange look. Sarah looked at all of the girls except for Anna with a smile, then she started to speak to me.

  " John, we all won't be having homework, we can also have our Maids Cast Healing Spells for our stamina."

  " Wait. Why hasn't Anna done that for me?"

  Crest looked at me and began to speak.

  " We could have, but you said that you like to earn everything. We assumed you wanted to feel the natural progress of your training. As well as believing in your Recovery Ability."

  " I'll admit, yes, I do prefer it. But my upper arms were killing me for the first 3 weeks! I could've used some relief!"

  Anna looked a bit guilt ridden. She started to speak to me.

  " I'm sorry, Master! I was going to ask, but you said you didn't want to take short cuts."

  I felt bad that she felt guilty, so I began to back pedal at tremendous speed.

  "Wait! Anna! It's not your fault, it's mine for just bearing with it! Please don't apologize!"

  " But a Maid is supposed to know what her Master is thinking at all times!"

  " You just started working as my Maid! No one would blame you for that! I was being too conservative with my thoughts and actions."

  * Grip!*

  "!"

  * pat... pat...*

  Anna grabbed onto my shirt with her hands, and she was trembling. Thinking fast I went for the only thing I could think of, so I began to pet her head. With my hand brushing her deep, dark green hair, she began to calm down. I then began to praise her.

  " Anna, you have been the best Maid I could've asked for. You don't need to think lesser of yourself. You're amazing in your own right."

  Anna raised her head and looked at me. Her face was red as a tomato, her eyes were a deep, dark, murky green, like staring into a jungle at night. She was about to say something, but then Sarah, Cynthia and Asha surrounded us. Sarah began to speak.

  " Anna, that's not fair. We will talk about this later. For now, we need to prepare for our martial classes."

  Sarah's voice was very chilly to hear. After speaking to Anna, she turned to me and began to speak in that same voice.

  " John, While I do not mind you having close relationships with other people, I feel the need to remind you that I am the one who will be first for everything. Do you understand, My Love!?"

  Stunned by her voice, all I could do was say yes.

  " Yes, Sarah. I understand."

  Sarah shifted her mood and answered me in her usual way.

  " Good! As long you understand, MY LOVE!"

  She put specific emphasis on that last part. It seems I'm not the only one who found that weird. Asha and Cynthia also looked at Sarah with a strange look. Looking to change the subject, I started to speak to Crest.

  " So, Crest. What's on the menu for today?"

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  Crest looked surprised to hear me, he snapped out of it pretty quickly and began to speak.

  " Uhh... Oh! Everyone please, pay attention to what I'm about to say. For John, he will continue his same training program. For the rest of you, I am going to start from the Basics, so I know what each of you need to do to improve. So please, start to practice your Basic Forms. Asha, As I understand it, you don't know anything about bladed combat. I think it will serve you well to pick a weapon first."

  Like that, we all started to go through the training. Meanwhile, Asha went to the weapon inventory set up on the side of the training field. After about 10 minutes, she came back with what looked like a rapier. Noticing my stare, Asha began to speak.

  " What's the matter? Do you think it doesn't suit me?"

  " No, I think it does. That weapon will be good for quick piercing thrusts. If an enemy runs up to you, expecting you to be easy fodder, you can quickly damage them before they come to a complete stop."

  " I had similar thoughts when I saw this blade."

  Asha smiled at me. It was a very genuine smile. I took note of it and continued to speak.

  " I'm glad you like my praise, you know, you should smile like that more. You're really charming when you do."

  Asha got a bit embarrassed at my compliment I guess, then she wondered over to the other girls. Crest showed her the basic forms of her sword and she began to work at it. After finishing the warmups, Crest began to speak.

  " Now that everyone has warmed up, time for sparring!"

  Sharon made a b-line right to me.

  " John! Spar me!"

  I was a little surprised at her forwardness, but I remembered Sarah saying something about her sparring me. So, it didn't take long for me to say yes. Her face remained neutral, but she seemed to be really happy at my consent. Before long, we were ready to spar. Sharon began to speak.

  " Okay! John don't hold back! I want to fight you at your best!"

  " Alright, I'll give it my all."

  Crest gave the signal to start.

  * Kick!*

  / Thump! Woosh!/

  We kicked the ground and the fight began.

  * Thrust!*

  I begin by attacking with a thrusting attack. Sharon dodges it. She pivots to my right and begins to launch a barrage of sword strikes.

  * Shift! Shift! Block! Block!*

  / Thump!/

  I begin to dodge and block everything she throws at me. Once she grew tired of missing and being blocked, she kicks the ground and lands about 10 feet away from me. She began to speak.

  " Why didn't you attack me!? There was a moment there you could've countered!"

  " Didn't feel safe. But if you want an attack, I'll show you an attack!!"

  * Kick!*

  / Thump!/

  I kick the ground and charge towards Sharon. She readies herself to block.

  / Clang!/

  I attack with a slash from my upper left, it crashed into her sword with a loud howl of clashing metal. feeling like I wouldn't win in a contest of strength, I pivot to try and make her move forward from having improper balance.

  * Sturdy!*

  No luck.

  * Swing!*

  / Woosh!/

  I strike again with a slash aiming at her shoulder, she moves back, avoiding my blow. I began to fire a barrage of strikes at Sharon.

  * Swing! Swing! Swing!*

  " !"

  * Bend!*

  " !"

  Now it was her turn to block and evade. Unlike myself, Sharon looked to counter me with a thrust, she nearly landed to my chest. I was able to dodge the thrust by bending my upper body backwards, she was shocked by this.

  * Kick!*

  With the time her shock gave me, I kicked her leg to try to break her posture. It worked she fell!

  " Ha, ha! I got you now!"

  * Raise! Pain!*

  Just as I'm about to land the strike, I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder. I look and her training sword was digging into my shoulder blade. I frowned and spoke.

  " Damn. Well played, I lose, Sharon."

  * Reach.*

  " ?"

  I stick my hand out to help her up, she looks surprised at the gesture. I was just as confused so I started to speak.

  " Sharon, are you ok?"

  She broke out of whatever she was thinking of and began to respond to me.

  " Huh? Ah! Yes, I'm fine. It's just that no one has ever offered to help me up after being beaten by me before!"

  " Well, I'm not like everyone you've met. After all, I'm an Otherworlder."

  Sharon smiled at me, it was looked full of warmth. Like she was with a Friend.

  * Grip! Pull!*

  Sharon took my hand and I helped her up. Paul approached us and began to speak.

  " Hey, John! I want to fight you next! It looks like you've improved with some experience!"

  " Yeah, I guess so? I still need to improve though. I saw gaps and openings, but I couldn't capitalize on them."

  " !"

  Sharon hearing my words, started to get a little competitive. It wasn't too long before she began to speak to me.

  " What do you mean by that, John!? Where were there openings in my fighting! I found gaps in your Style too!"

  " That's for me to know and you to find out. Don't worry, we will work through this together. We have 2 months after all! I hope you can show me everywhere I can improve. I look forward to working with you, Sharon."

  " Don't try to change the subject! It sounds like you need another loss to me!"

  We goofed off a bit more. But then Crest came up to us.

  " Now, now, you 3, I understand it's fun to have more rivals. But everyone else needs to fight too."

  With that, everyone else had a go of it. Except for Asha of course. Instead, people who weren't sparring were helping her with her basic lessons. Time moved on like this until lunch came around. We all left for the balcony, the food in our imagination being an oasis for our tired bodies. We had a lively meal with everyone. Sarah seemed to be disappointed that it wasn't just us eating together. I ended up holding her hand during the meal to make her feel better. It worked like a charm thankfully. With everyone having eaten their fill, I proceeded to Meditate as everyone sat and enjoyed the sun, I guess. So far, I didn't feel any new presences from my Meditation. With failure on my back from the Meditation, we all headed to Warrick's class together.